Started out with RA 2....

So what did yours start with, and do you know what that tells us?

RA 68...

haven't a clue

RA means Regular Army.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...States_armed_forces)

RA also indicates you were NOT a draftee, but rather a volunteer enlistee.

US 53 - Means I was drafted and the 53,I think designates area. Have no idea what the rest denotes or even if this is correct. RA was regular Army and ER was Enlisted Reserve. I don't remember there being a NG for National Guard,I believe they all had Enlisted Reserve status. I think my Dad told me when he was in the Marines in the 20's his serial number was the same as his rifle number which I always thought was a little weird. If you were discharged and reenlisted your designation went to RA but the number stayed the same. If you went to Oficer your designator then changed to an 'O' but the number remained the same ,if you went to a Warrant Officer the prefix was 'WO'. All of this is from long ago memory and is suspect just on the age of it. This was the Draftee Army and not the modern 'all volunteer' as it is today.

You're doing very well with your responses. RA did mean "Regular Army" and means you were a volunteer. It also means you had to serve a longer "hitch" than draftees did. Draftees were volunteered by "their friends and neighbors" for 2 years of service, while Regulars were in for a minimum of either 3 years or 4 years...generally volunteer Regular Army, Navy, and Marines for 3 years on the first go-around, and Fly-Boys for a minimum of 4 years.

There was a special beginning number for the groups too. A "1" as the first number meant you were a civilian when you initially volunteered. A "2" meant you volunteered to go onto active duty status from the National Guard....to do that you had to be discharged from the NG (which required your CEO's written permission to even start the process).

IIRC, members of the active reserve who volunteered to go on active status had SNs which started with a "3", but I could well be mistaken on that one.

And yes, some of the numerals in the serial number indicated precisely which draft board you were registered with at the time of your activation.


It was almost Germanic in its detailed organization. But as with any system so complex, it didn't always work.

When I was med-evac'ed home and disabled out of the service, I went to my local draft board (as required by law) to re-register and to get a new draft classification. Remember those classifications? 1-A meant prime meat, ready to be drafted and shipped anywhere they wanted you to be, doing anything they wanted you to do. For many that was a death sentence. A lot of kids went from high schools directly into the service if they dropped out or graduated. During the Korean War they were then given as little as 3 weeks training and shipped directly from stateside to the front lines as canon-fodder.

4-A meant you were physically unfit to serve. 5-A meant you were disabled AND/OR had served your time already.

Anyway, when I went to the draft board they arrested me. Seems they were never notified by the Army that I was ever in either the National Guard OR on active duty through two whole hitches and into my third. So they had sent me a draft notice when I dropped out of college, (a notice to report for active duty)...and when I didn't report to them for induction, I was placed on the list of "Draft Dodgers", which in those days was a felony.


Luckily, I had my disability discharge orders in my pocket when I was arrested, so I was only in cuffs for bout 5-10 minutes.
But I WAS both scared spitless AND angry.

Lots of that history has been lost these days.

So what do the rest of you remember...? Did any of you draftees save that wonderful draft notice which was a form letter from the President of the U.S., starting out to the effect of

"Greetings from the President of the United States. Your friends and neighbors have selected you to serve...blah, blah, blah." And then it gave you specific instructions on where and exactly when (day date & hour) to present your body for a physical. If you passed the physical you didn't go home to say goodbye...you were shipped directly to a Training Center, Boot Camp, or wherever to begin your life as scum, maggots, raw sewage status in the military.

It was a tough system and often unfair, but it made adults out of a hell of a lot of mental adolescents of every age.

You guys are oooold. Mine was my SSN in the AF

When I enlisted in the Corps, my number was my SSN

It was much later than WWII and Korea when they started using SSNs as serial numbers. I can't recall for sure, but I seem to feel that was after the draft was eliminated.

The Wikipedia entry is like ebv erything on Wikipedia, basically accurate, but lacking in some important stuff.

For instance, if & when you were an enlisted member of the Reserves, ER did start your reserve serial number. But, when you went on active duty directly from the reserves, you lost that serial number and were given a new "active duty" one. Ditto with the National Guard. While a member of the "part-time" Guard, your SN began with NG. But when you volunteered for active duty as a regular, you picked up a new SN which began with RA (reflecting your new "regular army" status. Your new number did still start with a 2 reflecting your prior membership in the guard.

Different question...Have any of you ever forgotten your serial number since you served and were discharged?

mine was BR and I was navy. they changed about half way through a 4 year inlestment to SS#

Hate to disagree with you but I have friends who were ER prefix serial numbers when I was in the Army. Not only do I remember my number but one of my dogtags is my keyfob. My induction notice was actually a postal card not a letter. I went thru 4 years of college with no defferrement classification. I was drafted when I was a sophomore but failed the physical because of high blood pressure. Was drafted again a second time as a senior but again failed the physical because of high blood pressure. When I graduated I got a job,bought a new car and started to work. Upon this I was again drafted. This time I drove to the induction center for the physical knowing for sure I would fail as I had twice before. The Dr checked my blood pressure and said 'hmmmmm a little high,go lie down on that bench for an hour and we will check it again' and at which time he said you made it. I had to call my father to come pick up my car and close my apartment and see to my job status. Upon arriving at Ft Chaffee, Ark in the middle of the night the old Sergeant said he wanted two volunteer college graduates for a really easy job that had a reward. Of course every one was wise to the 'never volunteer' action so didn't. He said 'I want two college graduates so hold your hands out palm down' where upon he walked down the line and picked the first two college class rings he saw. One happened to be mine. We got to stick everyone for blood typing and the reward was we got to stick ourselves.Such was my introduction to the US Army. I was supposed to take basic training there but when the CO of the unit I was assigned to found out I had been to gunsmith school and actually had my own M1 (a welded dewat that had been brought to National match standards) and 1911 he made me an acting Corporal and artificer of the unit and as such I took no basic training,then he had me assigned to radio school to stay at Ft Chaffee. I actually rather enjoyed my time in the Army and seriously thought about making it a career in the CIC. Error in judgement resulted in my getting married to a girl who HATED the Army and especially enlisted personnel. So served my 6 year obligation and on my way.

261----

USMC, before they went to SSNs which I believe was '70 or '71 ? Tells me it was a long time ago.

Viet Nam and the draft both ended in 1973. Air Force, I know and I'm pretty sure the other branches were also using social security numbers by then. Don't remember the year but it was around 1970 when Air Force went to social security numbers. My old AF number started out 186 which was an area that included Tx not sure which other states. It was mentioned that to be released from a reserve component to go regular required the CO's permission. That was strictly a courtesy deal. The recruiter sent a form to the CO, but if the CO didn't respond or even responded negatively, going regular from reserve took priority and that person went. I was in Air Force recruiting school in 1973 when it was announced that both the draft and Viet Nam ended, all my recruiting time was under the then all new
volunteer program.

I know as far back as the 60's and probably before, Air Force officers had one of two prefixes to their service number. FR and FV. FR meant they had a regular commission. For sure if an Academy graduate they were FR. Some honor grads from ROTC went in with regular commission. They could also be selected for regular commissioning somewhere down the line and there was a decision to be made as to whether to accept it or not. The FV's had a reserve commission, but it did not mean they were reservists---they were on active duty same as the FR guys and were serving their 20 or so for a retirement. If they had a reserve commission, they may hold a rank higher than what they served as. For example, many never wore a rank higher than Major, but retired as Lt Cols---Regular (FR) officers could not do that. Many that were offered a regular commission, declined it. I don't know what the advantages were to a regular commission.

USMC Serial numbers were by seniority, mostly. However, blocks of serial numbers were issued to Marine Corps Districts, so if you were from an area where a lot of Marines volunteered, you could have a higher serial number than some from less active districts.

I enlisted in San Jose, CA which was in the San Francisco district (12th?) and had lots of recruits. When I was sworn in on 1NOV65 my assigned serial number was 2181xxx. Many of my fellow recruits in my boot camp platoon had lower serial numbers because they were from other districts. Exactly 6 months later - minimum CONUS training period prior to deployment - I arrived in RVN. When some saw my serial number, written in large letters on the outside of my seabag, I was submitted to much ribbing about being a "boot" due to my "high" serial number. Of course that changed as the USMC rapidly expanded and was even ordered to accept draftees. Unlike the Army, I do not think think there was any difference in serial numbers between volunteers and draftees - all were green and all were graduated from boot camp as Marines.

Viet Nam didn't end until Saigon fell in April '75.

quote:

Originally posted by zimbabwe:
Not only do I remember my number but one of my dogtags is my keyfob.

Me too! Still have it in my pocket every day of my life.

Which brings up another question...do you remember why you were issued two dogtags instead of just one?

They actually had 2 year RA's starting in 1968. You did not have the choice of schools like a 3 0r 4 year RA.

I enlisted on 10 May of 1968. That was a watershed month in two ways. May 1st that year the E1 pay went over $100. My older brother was a US 56, draftee. He went in at $94.xx.

The second big change occurred in June. After several hundred push-ups to encourage us to learn our service numbers, they switched, Army at least, to your Social Security Number. Another week's worth of P-U's to commit that number to memory.

My dog tag is on my keys as well. It was issued May 13th of '68 at Fort Lost-in-the-Woods, Missouri.

They told us the reason for two was to have one to lace into your jungle boots when you got to RVN. It was comforting to know that if you stepped on a mine and got blown to pieces, a boot would be available to serve as ID...

My Father served four years in Echo Company,351st Inf Abn of the 82nd Airborne; once told me he would not take a million dollars for what he learned in the Army during WWII.

He also told me he would not care to repeat it for two million... My second tour in RVN, I figured out what me meant.

The experience changes the way you look at life.

Rich

Craigster--Yes Saigon fell in 1975 and that could be considered end of war. The 1973 Paris accord required external troops be withdrawn. The free world honored this and North Viet nam, Russia and China did not. For U.S. troops it was considered over in 1973.

OT but . . .

How many of you have been contacted and asked if you still live at address that happens to be where you live.

Then they go on to tell you they have your dog tags and will mail them to you.

You start asking questions trying to figure out the scam.
Then they read off the info on dog tags that only exist with those issued early on.

In a couple of weeks two BRAND NEW dog tags come in the mail . . .

They had been purchased in a market "In Country".

Nothing was asked in return for the dog tags.

STRANGE OCCURRENCE

What other things did the US leave over there?

Two dog tags one around neck, one laced in the boot???

That is easy the boot/leg is likely to survive, I reckon it the leg sticks out at the processing center and they can use the boot tag to identify someone.

State side we were told one tag was left around your neck, one in your mouth to assure it was the correct body.

Tag and P38 on my key ring still today.

My Dad's serial number was 4939a. That was on his dog tag pre 1940.

Did a bit of thinking on this. My niece has the dog tag. When researched Dad's file on line there's two numbers that come after each of the 9s. I don't remember those numbers on the dog tag.
At the time Dad was in the Oklahoma National Guard.

Jim

they used to tell us if you were killed, that your buddies were supposed to take the one around your neck and stick it between your upper and lower jaws, and kick your lower jaw. That would lock the dog tag in case of dismemberment by mine, etc.

Weird sense of humor floating around in those days.

Our Church had a Men's Breakfast this morning. I ended sitting next to a guy who was 5th Special Forces Group in Nam when I was there one year. We knew a few of the same people, mostly people assigned to CCN.*

Great breakfast and chat,

Rich


*CCN was Command & Control North, aka CIA.

My service number was my SSN, draft number was 309 (which they never got up to), and I had an ROTC exemption anyway.

Thank you one and all for your service!

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Thank you one and all for your service!

I was told that the tag on the long chain stayed on the body and the one on the short chain went to graves registration. Mine are the tags with the notch in them. There were lots of stories about what the notch was for when I found out it was merely for registration in the stamping machine. My tags had my name,serial number a T56 denoting my tetnanus shot in 1956 my blood type and my religion. They are still in good shape and have been in my pocket on my key chain for 56 years. What I can't remember was - was I issued new tags for my 4 years in the reserves. If I was I didn't keep them. I do know all the records of my service burned years ago and when I was qualifying for VA Hospital benefits it took forever to process because of this and to this day they only have years of service and active duty no other information like duty assignments or MOS or schools attended.

US514xxxxxx Still remember it. Basic at Ft. Dix, in the winter. Shoveling 1 ft of snow with entrenching tools. BTW, I just found a site called Duffle Blog that is full of military satire, and is hilarious! News item about a Captain charged with manslaughter for leaving his 2nd LT unattended in a car in the hot sun, for example.

quote:

Originally posted by zimbabwe:
I was told that the tag on the long chain stayed on the body and the one on the short chain went to graves registration. Mine are the tags with the notch in them. There were lots of stories about what the notch was for when I found out it was merely for registration in the stamping machine. My tags had my name,serial number a T56 denoting my tetnanus shot in 1956 my blood type and my religion. They are still in good shape and have been in my pocket on my key chain for 56 years. What I can't remember was - was I issued new tags for my 4 years in the reserves. If I was I didn't keep them. I do know all the records of my service burned years ago and when I was qualifying for VA Hospital benefits it took forever to process because of this and to this day they only have years of service and active duty no other information like duty assignments or MOS or schools attended.

Yeh, one of the stories when I was serving was that they put the dogtag which stays with the body (the long chain)in your mouth upright between your upper and lower front teeth, and then kicked your mouth shut. The notch made that easy.

As Rich remembers it the same way, maybe it wasn't just a story back then?

My dad's service number was 346XXX.
He enlisted USMC 18 Feb 1942
by 21 April he was a PFC

His discharge papers do not indicate any rifle qualification.

He qualified Sharpshooter with a pistol.

His special training was antitank gun crew man and truck driver.

His dog tags were issued Oct 7, 1942.
I suppose that was shortly before his all expenses paid tour of New Zealand, Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan.